Is Vancouver Olympics mayor Gregor Robertson on a short leash?

Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson hasn't exactly gone out of his way to make himself available to local newspapers and magazines.

He conducted 20 prearranged print interviews in the first eight months of 2009, according to the results of a Georgia Straight freedom-of-information request.

That works out to an average of 2.5 prearranged print interviews per month.

He conducted no prearranged print interviews in the month of May, which is when council has busy agendas and is regularly in the news.

Three of  Robertson's 20 prearranged print interviews occurred on April 17 with Chinese-language newspapers Ming Pao, Sing Tao, and World Journal.

Robertson  also conducted a prearranged interview with the Globe and Mail's Frances Bula on April 13. April was the only month in which the mayor did more than three prearranged interviews with print outlets.

The  conversation with Bula occurred on Easter Monday.

I became interested in finding out how often Robertson granted interviews after one of his aides, Kevin Quinlan,  informed me that  the mayor might not be free to do an interview with the Georgia Straight this fall.

The mayor subsequently made himself available.

In January, Robertson conducted  three prearranged print interviews. The first was with Mike de Souza of Canwest Media Service on January 5. On January 26, Robertson did a prearranged interview with Allen Garr of the Vancouver Courier. On January 30, Robertson spoke to Audrea Chan at Ming Pao.

He spoke to Stephanie Levitz of Canadian Press on February 4, Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times on February 9, and the Vancouver magazine editorial board on February 16.

On March 8, the mayor granted an interview to Miro Cernetig of the Vancouver Sun. On March 12, Robertson spoke to Phil Hersh of the Chicago Tribune.

On June 1, Maclean's writer John Geddes spoke to the mayor. A week later, it was Vancouver Courier reporter Mike Howell's turn. The next day, the Tyee's Monte Paulsen was granted a prearranged print interview with Robertson.

The next month, there were two prearranged print interviews: on July 22 with Tom Sandborn in the Vancouver Courier, and on July 30 with the Vancouver Sun editorial board.

On August 28, Toronto Star writer Adrian Brijbassi interviewed Robertson. There were two more prearranged interviews on August 31--with the Vancouver Courier's Allen Garr and with freelance writer Francis Plourde.

The majority of the interviews with English-language publications occurred on   Mondays.

All four Chinese-language interviews occurred on Fridays.

Nine of the 16 other interviews occurred on Mondays. The interview with Cernetig took place on a Sunday.

The Vancouver Sun editorial board meeting occurred on a Thursday before the B.C. Day long weekend. It's a period when the Pride parade dominates the media and when the public isn't paying much attention to Vancouver city council.

Comments

9 Comments

Huh? This is news?

Sep 25, 2009 at 4:58pm

I fail to see how reciting the dates and days of the week that the mayor met with reporters amounts to news. The title of the article implies something suspect is going on when it turns out that he has met with a range of publications; local, national and international. Is that somehow insidious or are there some hurt feelings at the fact the mayor has yet to find time in his schedule to meet with the Straight? Huh indeed.

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Charlie Smith

Sep 25, 2009 at 5:29pm

This isn't about the Straight. I don't really care if the mayor speaks to me or not. Larry Campbell wouldn't speak to me. Philip Owen wouldn't speak to me. Sam Sullivan very, very, very rarely spoke to me after he was elected. On this site, I am trying to educate our readers about Vision Vancouver's communications strategies. I happen to think that Vision Vancouver has put a lot of thought into this area. If you don't think this is newsworthy, I'm not going to lose any sleep over that.

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Michael Castanaveras

Sep 25, 2009 at 5:46pm

Charlie, if that's your angle then you should have prefaced blog post with your theory. As it stands, the post lacks context.

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Charlie Smith

Sep 25, 2009 at 5:58pm

Hi Michael,
Perhaps the item would have been stronger if I included comparisons with the number of prearranged print interviews conducted by the mayors of Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Winnipeg. I would be amazed if David Miller only conducted 2.5 prearranged print interviews per month. I'll see if I can track down this information.

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Alan

Sep 25, 2009 at 7:37pm

Unfortunately, the COPE/Vision (one in the same) plan is to islolate Gregor as they don't trust what he might say and how this may effoect their electorial prospects. This is just like another "controlled" so called leader - Steven Harper. I don't believe that Robinson is really in charge at City Hall. It is the far left wingers who have control of Vision and use Robinson as a front man - a la Ronald Reagan. Like the Harper Reform/Alliance/Conservatives, the real leaders of Vision don't really want the citizens to really know what they are doing and what the long term consequences are. An example is the hiring a City Manager without a national search.

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pretty weak

Sep 26, 2009 at 10:25am

maybe he's actually doing his job as mayor rather than sitting down for hour-long interviews every 10 minutes like Sam Sullivan did.

unless Charlie has an FOI that shows other Mayors doing way more, which I highly doubt because pre-arranged interviews take up a lot of time, this post is grasping at straws.

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monty

Sep 28, 2009 at 4:42pm

Journalists interview on days suitable for their publication deadlines.
Alan Garr does not seem to be at the Courier any more. Not mentioned in Sept 23 issue--new format: Howell now covers city hall. Upset Canwest and you are gone--rmember how miserably they treated Peter Ballard.
Learned today that the Straight is not available at the MetroVancouver offices. Perhaps you should take this up with Johnny Carline as this decision is blatantly discriminatory. There are many multi-cultural persons
who work there.
Besides, it would give all those developers on the Mayor's committee a chance to learn about the real world.
Bula is vastly over-rated.
Ballem worked for Control freak Gordo so she is trained in micro-managing. This is costing Vancouver taxpayers thousands and they ought to howl! Keep up the good work!
monty

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Charlie Smith

Sep 28, 2009 at 5:47pm

Monty,
It's my understanding that Allen Garr is writing one column a week in the Courier, not two. If I'm wrong, perhaps he will jump into the conversation and set the record straight.

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Lawrence Boxall

Sep 29, 2009 at 11:28pm

Alan suggests that the left is holding Gregor hostage. What left? What's left of the left hardly includes members of our city council.

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